Tel Aviv | The Israeli military unleashed an intense bombing campaign against an underground bunker near Beirut early on Friday in an attempt to target Hashem Safieddine, a cousin and the presumed successor of the assassinated Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, according to three Israeli officials.

Israeli planes bombed a meeting of senior Hezbollah leaders outside the Lebanese capital, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The bombardment was one of the heaviest in the area since the war began last October, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency.